Study on the Turbulent Flow of Superfluid 4He Generated by a Vibrating Wire

We have studied the flow of superfluid 4He generated by a vibrating wire. As the drive force increases, the velocity of the wire grows in the laminar‐flow regime, until it suddenly drops at the onset of the turbulent‐flow regime. As the drive force decreases, the turbulence disappears at a critical velocity. This result suggests that the vortices on the wire are confined within a finite size, even in turbulence. We have measured the critical velocity of seven vibrating wires, whose resonance frequencies range from 0.5 kHz to 9 kHz, at 1.4 K and found that the critical velocity is almost constant below an oscillation frequency of 2 kHz and increases above this frequency. We have also observed the response of a vibrating wire in superfluid 4He at a low temperature of 30 mK. We find that the resonance frequency jumps upward at the same moment as the entry of the flow to a turbulent state. The frequency jump may be caused by vortex dynamics such as expansion, entanglement, and reconnection occurring in the tu...